The invention is directed to a cross-country ski binding, especially a hiking ski including a Telemark binding with replaceable side cable length adjustor.
The binding includes a toe iron adapted to be mounted on the top of a ski. The toe iron includes cheeks and sole catches for accommodating and supporting the front part of the sole of a ski boot on the sides, front and upper portions. A tension cable unit is adapted to be passed around the heel of the boot and coupled to a tensioning mechanism through tension springs and side cable units for fixing the ski boot to the toe iron such that during cross-country skiing the boot heel and the heel of the skier's foot may be raised from the ski top.
A particularly satisfactory binding is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,838 which issued to Hauglin et al on Mar. 19, 1996. The ski binding includes a heel unit with a cable tightening mechanism including a pivoted lever and connected by side tension springs to a single toe cable extended about a toe iron unit. The connection of the toe cable to the tension springs includes a length adjustment mechanism. One connection includes a threaded rod connected to the toe cable and threaded into the one tension spring. The opposite side connection to the toe cable includes a threaded member slidably mounted on the toe cable with separate internal length adjustment elements and with the threaded member threaded into the end of the opposite tension spring. The threaded member is held on the cable by an end enlargement on the cable.
Swiss Patent 194,783 discloses a different loop binding in which a heel coil spring is connected to a lock cable coil spring with a multi-part threaded coupling to heel encircling spring for length adjustment. The threaded adjustment varies the closed extension of the encircling spring and the force thereof.
Further, it may be necessary with the known binding to adapt the heel of the boot to the tension spring which is to be passed thereabout, for instance, in the form of a groove formed on the heel in which the tension spring must be placed before the binding can be locking in place. Alternative cable assemblies include separate side connecting cable units which are separately connected between a heel unit and a toe iron unit. Such constructions are shown in German patent 603,854. In the '854 patent, various couplings are shown between a heel unit and a toe iron unit including various side cable interconnections with a length adjustment made within the coupling at the heel unit.
The dual side cable connection has the advantage that if either side cable unit is damaged, only the damaged cable unit need be replaced rather than the total connection to the heel unit.